Hand-pollination

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Hand-pollination of two gourd blossoms

Hand pollination, also known as mechanical pollination is a technique that can be used to pollinate plants when natural or open pollination is either undesirable or insufficient.

Method

viscidium

This method of pollination is done by manually transferring pollen from the

orchids
. In this case a small utensil is used to which the pollinia will stick.

Reasons

Common reasons for choosing this method include the lack of pollinators, keeping control of cross-pollination between varieties grown together,[1] and creating specific hybrids.[2]

Examples of this are vanilla plants, which are transported to areas where its natural pollinator doesn't exist, or plants grown in greenhouses, urban areas, or with a cover to control pests, where natural pollinators cannot reach them. Pollinator decline and the concentrated pollination needs of monoculture can also be a factor.

However, these are not the only reasons, and variable techniques for hand-pollination have arisen for many specialty crops. For instance, hand-pollination is used with

honeybees or other pollinators are a more efficient approach to pollination management
.

Despite this, hand-pollination is a fairly widespread practice. Pears grown in Hanyuan County, China have been hand-pollinated since the 1980s, because they can't be pollinated with other varieties that have different flowering times; also, lice infestation requires the use of many insecticide sprays, which causes local beekeepers to refuse to lend beehives.

See also

  • RoboBee
  • Materially Engineered Artificial Pollinators

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-61564-052-2
    . Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  2. ISBN 978-81-89422-03-5
    . Retrieved July 5, 2011.

External links
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